Oct. 02, 2009

Early Hominid Fossil Find

This week, researchers unveiled several studies of an early hominid known as Ardipithecus ramidus. The fossil skeleton of the female homind, nicknamed 'Ardi,' was found in the Ethiopian desert. It has been dated to be 4.4 million years old, 1.2 million years older than the famous skeleton of 'Lucy,' an Australopithecus afarensis. Writing in the journal Science this week, teams of scientists lay out their analysis of different parts of the Ardi find. We'll find out how those studies affect our understanding of human and ape evolution.